Throne of Darkness Edited with chapters!
by Metalhead6six6
Summary: Zanshin, the dark warlord, has unleashed a seemingly invincible wrath on Yamato, using an army of the undead. It is up to seven young samurai to save the city, and the world. This is the graphic tale, of their journey to the top of the Mountain Fortress.
1. Introduction

There is a legend in Japan that dates back to the Age of Kami. It is a legend that is rarely spoken of, and even then, in furtive whispers and never in the dark. The legend tells of the Decline of the Kami brought on by the Lord of Evil and Demon of Destruction, Maou-Hakaiki Zanshin and the heroes who fought against the darkness. The legend begins with the ascension of Shogun Kira Tsunayoshi, great grandson of Kira Bennosuke, as Supreme Warlord of Yamato. Fifty years before, when Bennosuke had risen to power and became the Shogun, he had commissioned five castles. One was built on the sacred mountain of Shourinzan, to honor those that gave their lives for him, and to appease the souls of the vanquished. The other four were built around the mountain in line with the cardinal directions, each honoring one of the four gods whom had aided his rise to power. Bennosuke awarded four of his most capable and loyal retainers the four lower castles to act as both guardians for the shrines and as protectors of the kingdom. Bennosuke ruled Yamato with a fair and just hand. The four deities, Susano-oo-no-mikoto, God of the Sea and Storms, Amaterasu-oo-mikami, Goddess of Sun, O-Kuni-Nushi, God of the Land, and Raiden, God of Lightning, were given the place of Official Deities of Yamato. Daily obeisances were made to the four Gods and certain days of the year were set aside for them. As time passed, the people gradually forgot the days of strife and grief from war. Trade flourished, there was plenty to eat, and there was always something new and interesting to entertain one's self. Yet in time, the people grew soft and faith wavered. Years later, Bennosuke passed away and was succeeded by Kira Tsunayoshi. Kira led the people through a shallow life, and they began to worship more sinister gods. But the gods were not without terrible punishment; Tsunayoshi awoke with the terrible knowledge that he was dying. He ordered that anyone that could save him come to the castle immediately; each failure resulted in death, each worse than the last. When all hope was lost, an old monk with very thin arms clutching a bamboo staff, came to the castle gates and demanded to see the shogun, claiming to have an elixir of immortality, he was escorted to the shogun. He gave the shogun a sake cup, filled with an evil smelling liquid, the shogun drank it. He then rose from the bed, fully rejuvenated. The next day as this soldiers paraded before him, the monk turned to the shogun and said it was possible to produce a vast quantity of the elixir so it could be fed to the soldiers, assuring victory in any battle. There was a malevolent fire in his eyes, and records of the account say that a pair of oni horns were seen for a moment on his head. It was undoubtedly agreed that the shogun was no longer human, but the evil demon Zanshin, the dark warlord. The elixir was said to be made using ancient scrolls from China, and when digested, it would make the drinker immortal, but at a terrible price. The gateway to the drinker's soul would be opened, allowing it to be engulfed by an evil spirit, inhabiting the body, preserving it for all time. The Dark Warlord immediately ordered for the monk to mix up a huge batch of elixir. A great cauldron was brought to the center of the courtyard; the monk stacked huge piles of cordwood around the cauldron and lit the large mass of wood. He began to throw in a mix of rare and strange ingredients into the cauldron. He began summoning poisonous insects and gathered them in a bag, which he also threw in the cauldron. The heat became too hot to handle, but the monk still stood near, somehow protected by the burning fire. Two days later, the fire died down, and the monk declared the potion to be ready. The shogun gathered his entire army and announced the news of the elixir. He said that any man who did not wish to take the potion, step forward. Thirty men did. Suddenly, the shogun made a quick series of hand gestures, ten of the men died vomiting their internal organs out, ten more died when their heads were violently ripped from their bodies by an unseen force, and the other ten died as their skeleton ripped itself out of their bodies. The Dark Warlord just stared at the mangled piles of flesh, then bellowed out a command. "This shall be what happens if you do not follow my orders! This shall be the fate of our enemies! We will be victorious, we shall crush all that oppose us, and none shall be left standing before us, now drink the elixir of victory!" The men drank the potion in horror, and the Dark Warlord drank in the sounds of the awakening beasts, and answered with a roar of his own. As night passed, Shenerite's castles changed watch at sunrise, the armies of the Dark Warlord waited for this opportunity. With lightning force, they crashed the gates, leaving piles of dead bodies in their wake. They broke into two columns, one smashing into the outer citadel, and destroying the night watch as they were entering the castle, and the day watch as they were gearing up. They rushed up the stairs killing soldiers as they lay sleeping in their beds. The second column chased down the defenders that ran to the armory. Defenders frantically grabbed as much armor and weapons as possible, some giving their lives to allow their comrades to don their armor. As the defenders collapsed before the onslaught, they came upon the body of Shenerite's wife; she committed suicide by slitting her throat rather than face the fate that awaited her. Shenerite had been taken to the top of the castle, where he assumed he would die. As the soldiers mounted the steps to the shrine room, they mysteriously turned back and ran down the stairs. The retainers remained vigilant, in case they attacked again. They looked out the window and saw that the main part of the army had retreated back to the mountain fortress. Turns out that the Dark Warlord had recalled the soldiers, assuming Shenerite was dead, a mistake he would later pay forBig time. Shenerite gave an order to his remaining retainers, "Bring me the head of Kira Tsunayoshi, the gods have given us one last chance, and we must not fail!"


	2. The Castle

We were the only ones in the shrine room, Brick, Archer, and Leader, the other four were scattered around the castle, Ninja, Swordsman, Berserker, and Wizard.

The words of Shenerite hovered in our minds. How are we supposed to win a battle in which are enemy is the undead. As we went down the stairs we heard the screams of our fellow comrades, when we reached the bottom, Swordsman was covered in Dead Foot Soldiers. Leader and Brick rushed in for a melee attack while archer stayed back to shoot arrows. They weren't all that strong, not to us anyway.

Swordsman got up, "Thank the gods you have arrived, I have fought long and hard, my strength is spent, I must now rest in the shrine room." We waited five minutes until he returned. We entered the next room and came across the body of Shenerite's wife. Soldiers were behind the dressers; you could here the nasty sound of their breath, sounding like the gasp of a suffocating man. We went for the sneak attack, but they could hear as well as an Eagle can see. We evaded and conquered, blood was everywhere. Blocking and stabbing, it was surprisingly tiresome, but we could take it pretty well.

After the battle, we stopped for a moment to meditate, to heal our wounds and regenerate our dead. We went into the next room, Skeleton Archers flooded the corridor, shooting their arrows constantly, but Archer was able to break most arrows with his own. Brick took one in the shoulder, the head, the chest, two to the leg, he didn't make it. We fought valiantly, every archer Swordsman took out, his sword went through like a knife through butter. After the battle, we collected our treasures from the dead. Minutes later, after healing Brick, we headed downstairs.

All that was left of our army was the bloody massacre, which lay before us. We went through a door, which led to someone's bedroom. A single Skeleton Archer was there, the Swordsman easily killed him. We went through the next door that led us to a little temple room; the priest lay before us in a pool of his own blood. We then discovered a new enemy, a Shadow Commander, the toughest yet. He was accompanied with fourteen Dead Foot Soldiers, and three Skeleton Archers. Brick ran up with his Polearm, blocked and chopped the Soldiers up, Swordsman fought with such grace, he could have been blindfolded and still not receive a single scratch. Leader and Archer were gone, killed by the Shadow Commander. Brick got his ugly face with a blow to the top of his head, while Swordsman went for the waist, he then fell over, and his head split in two.

We knelt next to our comrades and prayed. Minutes later they were up and ready to go. We began our journey into the living room. We went through a door and fought seven D.F.S.; we then went in to the next room and fought two Shadow Commanders, four D.F.S., and two Skeleton Archers. We began our battle, most fierce yet. Brick went his own way with the D.F.S., while Archer and Leader went for the Shadow Commanders; Swordsman went for the quick and easy target so he could help Archer and Leader fight the Shadow Commanders. Swordsman fought his best and destroyed the Archers in ten flat. He went to help the others but ran into the sword of the Commander, impaling him. The Commander nailed him to the wall and grabbed his katana. Brick chopped off one D.F.S.'s head, another gets it in the stomach and the other tries to flee but ends up in fire, he runs around until he burned to death. The other is tough, really tough. But luckily Archer got him with an arrow in the back of the head. Brick went to join his buddies in a ferocious battle against the Commanders.

One Commander has honed his accuracy, but the other has gone for power, his blow is so powerful, he broke Bricks Polearm. Brick flees to get a spear, runs back and impales him with such power, he was able to stick him on the ceiling. Archer's arrow goes into the other and shoots him to the wall. The battle was surely intense, but they survived. They revived Swordsman and collected treasure. The room was not a pretty sight. Blood drenched the walls and ceiling, impaled bodies, burning corpses. Near the stairs stood their Wizard, "Ah, you have arrived, keeping the enemy at bay has drained my Ki. I will go back to the shrine room to meditate."

We went down to the final level of the castle. There they met Berserker and Ninja. "We keep killing them but they keep coming back. We will rest in the shrine room." They waited a while and brought their men out. They walked forward and four Neanderskulls attacked them and seven Skeleton Archers. Archer decided to pick off the Skeleton Archers one by one, while the rest of them were to kill the Neanderskulls. Archer got out without a problem, but everyone else had trouble. Ninja was killed in one hit by the Neanderskulls gigantic hammer, Leader has been decapitated, and Swordsman has a crushed shin. But he still fights hard, but then a Neanderskull raises his hammer but Brick saves him with a quick sweep maneuver with his new spear, the monster falls back, drops the hammer right on his head in an explosion of bloody bones. But the battle was not over; nowhere near it. They had to get rid of the other three. It happened eventually. Brick tricked one of them into smacking down into rotted wood. Another got blasted with Earth Spears summoned by the Wizard. The Swordsman's Sunshard killed the final one. They began to pray to tend to their wounds and their dead.

They then venture farther into the first floor. And there's the general of invading forces, Buaku, behind the wall. He began his attack with a fancy front flip and ends by chopping Bricks head off. He then goes for Wizard but he stops him with an electric barrier of some sort. So the fight begins with Wizard throwing an arc wall at Buaku but Buaku dodges and throws a Fire Kanji at all of them. Swordsman goes for the head while Leader for the body; he uses a Lava Ring to stop them. Archer is shooting arrows-which is the only thing affecting him-and then goes in for his first melee attack. Lands it in his head and body with a back fist to an elbow. He then grabs a small knife and jabs it into his stomach. He staggers back a moment, but is soon enraged and charging, but Archers magic stops him with an Earth Strike.

Buaku flies and smacks into a wall, a gaping hole in his chest. Brick picks up his unique weapon, with Buaku's Blade in one hand and a Katana in the other. They headed outside after praying for the lost ones. The first fight was simple, just a couple of D.F.S. and a Skeleton Archer. Everyone went for the D.F.S. first but Brick and Ninja got their first. Right before connection, an arrow ripped through Bricks brain. Ninja is horrified but fought strongly; he killed one soldier with a sword, another with an Ice Kanji. Wizard killed four with a baby Lightning Dragon; it slashed and stabbed and shot deadly lightning blasts out of its mouth. The Wizard concealed the dragon and we moved on into the inner citadel.

At the portal gate, Shenerite appeared, "The Dark Warlord's sorcerer is in the outer citadel, stop him before he can summon reinforcements." He disappeared, then a rush of seven Commanders, four Skeleton Snipers, and twenty D.F.S. The Wizard summoned all of his dragons and a conductive spell, entomb spell, flammable spell, and a drown spell on the entire army. He became very weak, and was soon taken out by a Skeleton Sniper with a well-placed arrow to the neck. Luckily, the spells didn't go with him, he's the only one who can summon dragons. All of the Commanders were slaughtered by the dragons' attacks, but the drown, flammable, entomb, and conductive spells really helped out. The soldiers overwhelmed them, the dragon fatalities of the soldiers was nine. Brick, Ninja, and Swordsman dominated the battlefield, Archer, Leader, and Berserker attempted to take out the snipers; none of them made it, only one sniper was killed.

Brick picked up a soldier, spit on him, and threw him on a fence pole, the wood ripped through the monster's stomach, not killing it instantly, exactly Brick wanted to happen, he wanted him to suffer. Swordsman and Ninja just wanted it to end, the way that Swordsman was swinging his sword, it seemed like there was no resistance, even though the bodies flew. Ninja loved stabbing techniques, Brick likes to impale people, and Swordsman just wants to hone his swordsmanship skills to perfection with variety. Ninja used a Lightning Kanji on the snipers. They started to pray. They then opened the gate, an explosion of all elements instantly killed six samurai. Wizard ran back through the gates and prayed, seconds later they busted through the gate, wounded and half dead. He revived them; then jabbed his katana into his own stomach, the others revived him to full health.

They ran into the outer citadel and saw the Sorcerer, he created the explosion, he made another but we evaded. There were Skeleton Archers, Thunderskulls, Magi the Majin, Vanguards, Elite Guards, and Death Winds. We went for the Vanguards and Elite Guards first, Brick impaled seven Vanguards and three Elites. Swordsman again fought valiantly, Archer killed anyone he shot at with a single arrow, nailing them to posts and walls. Wizard cast his dragons and drown, entomb, flammable, and conductive spells, but was able to fight with much force. Ninja fought with his arsenal of melee and ranged weapons and magic. Berserker slaughtered everyone he came by with a short sword and bare fists; that is until he reached the Sorcerer, he just smiled and waved his hand, Berserker screamed as his skin was being ripped from his bones, blood and bones lay in a pile of mangled flesh. Leader stared at the steaming pile of his former fighting friend; he didn't think he could be revived after that.

A Thunderskull came up behind him and smashed him into a wall with his electric hammer; Leader was gone. Brick finished off the last of the Guards, he ran to join his remaining comrades in the battle of the Death Winds, and the wheels on their arms generate electricity and give them the ability to shoot lightning balls. The dragons were slaughtering the Thunderskulls, though the fire and electric dragons had been smashed, the other two finished off the remaining Thunderskulls. That's when the Sorcerer decided to finish everyone off, he first went for the dragons, he threw a Sunshard and an arc wall, and he finished off all the samurai but the Ninja with another elemental explosion. The Ninja ran for his life through the inner gate.

He began to pray, but since he is the least religious, it took a long time. At one point he gave up, but Shenerite came and gave him the courage to pray more, eventually, everyone came back to life, everyone but Berserker that is. They went out and killed the Black Winds; Brick impaled two and stabbed one with the spiked wheel on her arm. Leader chopped ones head off, and Archer killed two with a single arrow. Their next target was the Skeleton Archers, they were simple, like always. Then their mortal enemy stepped up and blew up a horse stall. He then aimed for Archers head, it blew right off like he had just swallowed a grenade, and blood soaked the samurai, the Sorcerer just laughed. Brick ran at him and nailed him to the wall, Majin just laughed, "What's so funny you heartless bastard?" Brick screamed, "You humans, you think that poking me with a child's toy is going to kill me?" Majin said casually. He created an electric barrier and sent Brick flying across the courtyard. He pulled the spear out without flinching, "Who's next?" he dared. "All of us!" said Leader. They charged but were knocked back by a Lava Ring. Wizard cast his dragons and relating spells, the Majin had a look of worry, but he countered the spells.

The dragons sliced and diced him, and we charged in for an attack, each of our swords went into his chest, he was burned of fire by the Fire Dragon, fried by the Lightning Dragon, scarred by the Earth Dragon, and was burned of extremely cold gusts of air, the Sorcerer's screams were said to be heard throughout all of Yamato. They began to pray but in their hearts, they knew Berserker was gone. After an hour of praying, they quit. They walked out side, a barrage of Kappa's attacked, biting and hitting with their bone clubs. Archer had a hard time hitting them with arrows because of their speed, so he took out a Wakizashi and sliced up the Kappas with his new weapon. Brick picked them up and threw them onto trees and fences, the Wizard used a katana to pick them up and whip them over his shoulder; Ninja, Leader, and Swordsman did their normal routine.

From behind the bush near the gate, right next to where brick was, came two full-grown Kappas. "BRICK, BEHIND YOU!" Brick looked at him but didn't have time to look behind him when one picked Brick up by the head, the other grabbed his legs, and they pulled in different directions, they broke him in half. They threw his body parts at the samurai, looked at their babies and screamed. Some of their heads were split open; others were impaled on tree branches, a horrible thing for a mother and father to see. They swung their gigantic claws at the samurai wildly. Swordsman got slashed and fell over and Big Momma stepped on him. The others stared in horror while Swordsman screamed. They began to run only just in time, Archer shot his arrow into one of the monsters eyes, it swung even more wildly than before. Leader came up behind it and sliced his leg off, but the monster fell backwards and the spikes on the monsters shell pinned him to the ground. Archer, Ninja, and Wizard jabbed their weapons into its stomach.

The other caught them by surprise, they forgot about it. It chopped off Wizard's head off and slit Archer's throat. Ninja fell backwards onto his back, he tried to crawl away, as he turned his head, the monster let out a ferocious ROAR! Ninja closed his eyes and waited for the flesh-piercing claw to cleave his skin but it never came, he opened his eyes and saw its head on the ground, and there stood Berserker, holding his sword on the monsters shell. "You're alive, thank goodness you're alive," Ninja said, "But how were you resurrected, we gave up after an hour?" "Shenerite came down and prayed for me." Berserker replied. They prayed for the others, Leader took a while, but he came back.


	3. Burn the Priest

When everyone was alive they walked down the road, everyone had a question for him but it was all the same.

Half way down the road, they came to a bridge with a portal gate near it, Shenerite appeared, "Leader, the Priests that raised you live across this bridge, see that they are safe, and secure the wilderness portal gates for are use!" He disappeared, we began to cross the bridge when bird-like creatures called Tengu attacked us, they tried to kill with their beaks and a couple had swords. One swooped down at Ninja; it lunged at the top of his head with its sword pointing straight down, the sword ripped all the way down to his kidneys. Brick looked up and saw a Polearm that looked just like his old one, but instead it had a double bladed axe with a spike poking out the top, he lunged his spear into the bird's head and smashed him against the rail of the bridge.

Four still fought on the ground; the one who killed Ninja took his weapon out and slaughtered the body. Leader stabbed the bird through the back to the stomach; the mist of blood gave a whole new meaning to the word shower to Leader. Brick began another impaling frenzy, smashing them and nailing them to the trees. Archer did most of the nailing by picking them off one by one out of the sky. Swordsman decapitated two of them. They began to cross the bridge again, when they saw the flags for the temple. The flags were ripped and bloodied and one man was hanging by his neck on the tree branch, it was Leader's childhood playmate. "NO!" Leader cut ahead through the forest, when he reached the temple, there were a couple of slaughtered corpses, but none he recognized.

He went into the temple room and saw a blue Commander with two katanas holding them to the last priests necks. "YOU STAY AWAY FROM THEM!" the Commander looked up and growled. "Leader, don't worry about us run along." Leader closed in on the Commander and stuck his sword into its chest and smashed him into the wall. The rotted wall broke away and they fell outside. Leader got up and looked at the Commander, it lay with a sword in its chest, and a frown on its face. He ran to hug the remaining priests, "Leader, where did you learn to fight like that?" "I picked it up when I trained with Shenerite!" They hugged a while, and we went to sweep the area. Nothing.

We left for our next quest. We started down the road, we heard a loud roar, but we ignored it. There it was again, out of the bushes behind us came a sort of Raptor, it stealthily ran up behind Berserker. It let out a call, Berserker turned around with only enough time to scream, as the Poison Drake lunges and bites off his head in a surge of blood. The others charged the monster but he slashed with his claws and tail, poisoning anything it hits. Leader died of poisoning, and Wizard was bitten in half. Brick and Ninja sliced open its chest; the poison leaked out and mixed with its blood. It dropped many weapons and a Remedy. We prayed for the dead and they got up. We walked a little farther and found a massacre of villagers. Most of their stomachs were chewed open; others had their brains eaten.

Blood drenched the trees and bushes. We turned the bend, a noise came from the bushes, they were shaking three Kappa came out of the bush and beat Swordsman to death and ate his brains. Berserker killed them by smashing them into the ground; Brick did some more impaling. They lost Ninja, Wizard, Swordsman, and Archer to surprise attacks. Then the parents came out, and they were mad! Brick fought and was slashed but kept on fighting until the thing bled to death. Berserker was having trouble and was killed by being shoved into a tree branch; it stabbed him through and held him up. Brick killed it by chopping off its head with his new Axe head. He pulled Berserker off the branch and revived him. They then revived everyone else. They began to walk again and we found a portal gate, surrounded by beautiful women, we approached with big smiles on our faces. "Hey ladies, what are you doing out here, you don't want that pretty face messed up now do ya." They smiled, then began to pull something out of their skirts, they gave us a fierce look and shot a magically enhanced arrow into Leader's chest, he flew backwards into Swordsman, Swordsman shoved him off playfully, but when he looked at his lap, he was drenched with blood.

We looked at the once beautiful women, now their fangs were bared and their body was rough and scaly. Brick started to kill them, Berserker punched one right in the chest, but when he pulled his hand out, all that was left of it was a bloody stump. He screamed, the woman shot him with an arrow and sent him flying, a gaping hole in his chest. Wizard cast an Incinerate and killed two of them, Ninjas Kunai killed one, and Swordsman killed four of them, and Brick chopped ones head off. "Why did they have to be evil, they were so pretty," Brick shrieked. We recovered the portal gate, Shenerite appeared, "Go to Castle Oda; we will need his samurai to complete our quest." We began to walk, we were so tired we could have slept for days; we decided to nap a while. We woke from a terrible scream; a villager was being pushed back by a Shadow Commander.

Archer got up and whipped an iron star at his head, the Commander swung his sword and hit the star right back into Archers head, Brick got up and began to run after him but a Forest Oni came from behind a tree and smashed him in the head, Brick fell over, he was then crushed by the Oni's Tetsu Bo. Wizard threw a Lightning bolt at the Oni and nailed him and blew his head off. The Shadow Commander finished off the villager, but Ninja came up behind him and jabbed his sword through its head. They decided to take no more naps, as the treacherous results lay before them. They revived everyone and walked some more until they reached a village. Women and children hid in the houses while men were outside fighting soldiers. The villagers fought valiantly, but could still use our help. We came in just in time to save a villager from slaughter by a Neanderskull. They all went our separate ways. The soldiers were stronger than usual, and the Archers had better accuracy. Ninja and Swordsman were killed instantly by arrows. Brick went and killed a Commander as he was swinging at a little boy with a toy knife. Berserker killed two Neanderskulls that were about to crush a house with a family inside. The bloodiest battle was nowhere near over.

Archer started to kill the skeletons. The villagers were fighting their best, but in their and their family's hearts, they knew they were fighting a losing battle until the samurai came. The villagers were dying left and right. Heads, arms, legs, and torsos lay everywhere, some good, and some bad. The villagers had katanas and maces, smashing the opponent's head in with the spikes. Some of the women were even fighting. Leader was beating up the D.F.S., while Brick and Berserker worked on the remaining Neanderskulls. Archer was being poked by a little boy, he told him to stop but the boy just kept jabbing his gut. Archer was just about to kill the boy, after all his mother and father were dead, he just thought Archer did it, before a Death Squad came up and killed him, the boy hugged the murderers and ran off but was killed by the leader of the Death Squad that killed Archer. Brick killed the Death Squad, cursing at them for killing a helpless six year old. Berserker and a couple of villagers finished off the rest of the soldiers with their swords.

They reunited in the Temple. "Thank you for helping, will you stay?" "Sorry, we can't. But maybe some of your men can come help us destroy Zanshin?" "I think we should stay here with our wives and children, but thanks again. Good luck and Godspeed." The villagers were hugging their families, slaughtered men and boys.


	4. Affinity For Blood

We began our walk to the castle. Men on horses called Kehei attacked, shooting Stonebolts. We killed the horses then charged the demons on them. After the Kehei were dead, we began to walk again. We fought more Tengu; we lost Swordsman and Archer to the surprising dive attacks. Brick chopped off their heads and sliced them in half. When we got to the outer citadel, we saw Henchai and Tunkulai, Castle Oda's Ninja and Brick class men. We walked through the gate, a Majin waited for his chance to kill us, and he got it, but didn't take it out. We killed him with thirteen arrows to his head, and six katanas in his chest.

The Death Winds killed Brick and Ninja; Wizard sent out his dragons for another intense citadel fight, the Thunderskulls killed Wizard in his weak state. Leader fought the Death Winds and Vanguards. He used the wheels on the D.W.'s arms to kill them, Archer killed most of the Vanguards until a Thunderskull walked up behind him and smashed him into the ground. Berserker, Leader, and Swordsman tripped the Thunderskulls over each other; their hammers smashed them into a hundred pieces. They walked through the doors after healing everybody. Debakutsu attacked, the general of Clan Oda's castle's uninvited guests. Archer shot at him, but he was _fast!_ Brick, Berserker, and Swordsman went to cut him up, but he sliced off Bricks head, cut Berserker in half, and Swordsman got his throat slit.

Leader, Archer, Wizard, and Ninja, all used their strongest spells. Wizard used Incinerate; Ninja used Tidal Wave, Archer used Ice Kanji, and Leader used a Lightning Blast. After healing everybody, Swordsman grabbed his weapon. He got to test it out on a Squad Commander; he killed him with a slit to the stomach. Neanderskulls, D.F.S., Vanguards, and Death Squads were scattered on the first level of the castle. Brick began the usual attack against the soldiers. When he impaled the first soldier, it relieved him, "aaaahhhhh, that feels good!" Leader was using a katana, was stabbing people through, throwing them into other people. After the battles, they went for the Neanderskulls, Ninja was crushed into the wall, Brick killed them by smashing their chests and legs and head.

We headed up the stairs to meet Shadow Soldiers, Leader got a spear through the back of his head, Brick impaled the soldier, and stuck him to the wall. The rest were killed by Archer's arrows, sticking through their backs and heads. In the next room Arrow Masters waited for us and killed Wizard, we killed them and moved on. Four Shadow Commanders waited by the stairs, Brick went to kill one, but it threw a silver plate through his neck, Berserker killed it by ramming him through a thin tapestry and into a bed of spikes. Another killed Berserker by punching through his chest and ripped out his heart. Archer shot and killed one, Leader killed the final one with his spear, blood drenched the walls and soldiers faces. The next floor was empty, when we got to the shrine room, we saw three samurai surrounding a body.

We ran and attacked, Swordsman fought the other Swordsman, and so on and so forth. Swordsman swung at the enemy, he blocked, they just kept on blocking and swinging, and Brick killed the wrong Leader by smashing his head open. But made up for it by killing the Leader and Swordsman of the other clan. Both Wizards dragons fought, slashing each other, Mori Wizard killed the enemy with a blow to his chest, his first impalement. They saw Oda Nobunaga lying in a puddle of blood. "It is too late to save me now, I know who sent those samurai, they were members of the Tok...ug…aw..."

We walked over to the portal gate where Shenerite appeared, "The Tokugawa Clan has left evidence of their betrayal of Oda Nobunaga, avenge our ally!" We couldn't wait to get to Castle Tokugawa; we couldn't wait to slaughter the remaining samurai, then leyasu himself. We took the portal gate to the outer citadel, and left the castle. Down the road, we met little midget-type things greeted us, fed us, and tried to kill us. They were evil monks, trained by Tenkai, an evil wizard. They shot spells out of their staffs, they were very weak, but when the spells finally connected, it was strong. Leader was killed by a single frost bolt. But they were fairly easy to kill; we just smashed their heads and evaded their spells. We found another portal gate, surrounded by Arrow Elites. Arrows flew _everywhere!_ Berserker and Brick were killed as we turned the bend. Swordsman turned just in time to see an arrow go right into his eye, blood drenched the arrows that were being shot, they must have taken the arrows out of bodies of people they killed. Archer tried to break the arrows, but they broke his instead. Not only did they break them, they went through them; Archer got it through his mouth, he literally drowned in his blood. Leader and Ninja ran behind a tree to distract the elites, while Wizard went in from behind to flank them. He ran into the middle of the gate and cast a Tidal Wave, he killed all but one. We pinned the one down and began to interrogate him.

"Where's Zanshin?" "I don't know." The archer said in a very scratchy voice. Brick broke off his arm and slapped him upside his head with all his might, "Where is he!" "I'll never tell you!" He slapped him with his arm so hard, his head broke off, the only hope to find out for sure where Zanshin was, was dead. We captured the portal gate and moved on. We couldn't wait to get to Castle Tokugawa; we couldn't wait to slaughter the remaining samurai, then leyasu himself. We took the portal gate to the outer citadel, and left the castle. Down the road, we met little midget-type things greeted us, fed us, and tried to kill us. They were evil monks, trained by Tenkai, an evil wizard. They shot spells out of their staffs, they were very weak, but when the spells finally connected, it was strong. Leader was killed by a single frost bolt. But they were fairly easy to kill; we just smashed their heads and evaded their spells.

We walked near a river with a bridge and met three really strong kappa, we were exhausted, which must have been the plan, because thirteen more came out, and four lords. Ninja was decapitated and the monster stuck its claw through Wizard. Brick and Berserker punched the little ones heads off, everyone else did their regular routine. Archer killed two lords with a single arrow, he shot ones eye out, it slashed the other, and they fought to the death, the blind one won. But he soon fell in the river and fell down the waterfall. Brick and Berserker killed the last two by stabbing them in the hearts.

We looked down the waterfall and saw the lord, lying on his busted shell, with rock spikes in its stomach. We walked across the bridge, Ninja was about halfway across the bridge when the board cracked, he fell and got a splinter in his eye, he was so frantic the other boards broke away, and he fell into the waterfall, never to be seen again, though we hoped it was not true. "NNIINNJAAAA!" The truth burned through our hearts, we were never going to see Ninja again, one of our best fighters, gone.


	5. Vengeance

We began to mourn, but then thought of the village, but none of the men there would want to come. We began down the road; Leader was balling his eyes, out. We decided to go back to the village and sleep, the villagers fed us, gave us drinks, let us use their most luxurious beds.

We thanked them and began down the road and crossed the bridge, we were pretty well over it, Leader stood by that bridge with a blank stare at the dead Kappa, we all thought he was going to jump, so we hurried him across the bridge and down the road until we reached our next battle. Death Winds and Tengu were there, the Tengu had swords and axes, and the Death Winds had the wheels to shoot lightning balls.

Brick went for the Tengu, their skill had noticeably increased, they cut off Bricks arm, and then slit his stomach open. Berserker killed three of them with a Lightning Kanji, but he was then killed by a stray Inferno Strike shot by Wizard, his chest was ripped open, the dangling flesh was on fire. Wizard shot another Inferno Strike and knocked a Death Winds head off, he started to attack in melee, he stabbed two, and impaled one. Leader was killed by a Death Winds lightning blast. Archer shot an arrow into the final ones head, it ripped right through.

We regenerated our comrades and began nearer to the Tokugawa Castle; we could smell the blood of the samurai, fresh on our swords. We reached the castle about ten minutes later, the outer citadel was filled with enemies, everything we've encountered in castles and villages. When we walked in, we went straight for the closest thing to us, but it was Ninja. We guessed that there was a portal gate down there, and we assumed Shenerite came down to pray for him.

We fought the Death Squads first, we killed most of them with ease, but the Black Winds were harder than the average Death Wind, one killed Wizard and Leader with one Earth Strike. Brick, Berserker, and Swordsman started to kill them with their secondary weapons, Swordsman used a bow and arrow, and Berserker used a long spear, and Brick used two katanas to block and kill the Black Winds.

Ninja was fighting the Majin for a very long time before we got there. Wizard cast his dragons and relating spells, Archer was dead by a Lava Seeker in the stomach. The dragons were kind of starting to look like they were attacking Ninja, but the Majin cast his own dragons plus three, the seven dragons immediately slaughtered Wizards dragons and went after us, Wizard used every spell he knew on the dragons but only killed two, Brick cut ones head off, but one came up behind him and returned the favor.

Swordsman used all of his spells and killed two, Berserker was about to but he ran out of Ki, so he ran in to kill one with a long spear into its heart. Ninja killed one by slitting its throat. We ran through the outer gates and regenerated our men, when they busted through the door, the three samurai killed themselves only to be regenerated by their comrades to full health. We ran back through the door and began to fight the Majin, Brick impaled him, Wizard blasted him with a Lava Seeker, and Berserker chopped off his head.

Neanderskulls and Thunderskulls waited for us nearer to the door, Archers arrows didn't affect them that badly, so he took out his Wakizashi. Brick tripped a Neanderskull on to another; they were both crushed by each other's hammer. More dragons summoned by Wizard mutilated the rest, he concealed the dragons and we entered the castle, the first floor was pretty empty. We walked through all the rooms, not a single enemy's remains. We must have been too confident in no enemies being there, because Wizard's head fell off and Ninja was nowhere in sight. We stood as alert as a bird watching its young, then Bricks head flew off, along with Swordsman's head. Berserker and Leader started to swing around like crazy until they hit something, we all started to swing at it but it was still invisible.

We regenerated our comrades and ran up the stairs across the hall. The next floor was a battle zone, many people were still alive, fighting the monsters, we noticed three certain men, going around and killing their own soldiers, we stared at them and realized it was the Tokugawa samurai. We rushed in to save the remaining soldiers; they were much stronger than us. There were only three but they killed five of us, we fought and killed two of them with spells, but the other was very weak from killing. We decided to run up the stairs and regenerate our men and fight the battle later. We took the portal gate and walked up to Leyasu himself. "You and Mori are fools to oppose the dark warlord, you know you can never defeat him!" He pulled his sword from behind him and jabbed it into his stomach.

We watched as Leyasu's blood ooze from under him, the katana sticking from his back reminded us of Oda, lying in a pool of his blood, shed by the Tokugawa samurai. That was when Ninja stabbed Swordsman in the back, shoved his katana all the way through, he didn't pull it out. He raised his hand, his skin began to rip apart and revealed his new form, he had become Kain, he took Swordsman's weapon and cut open Berserkers stomach. Brick went to kill him but Kain took Berserkers long spear and stuck Brick to the ceiling. Kain lunged for Wizard and bit his neck, Wizard became pale and blood spurted from his mouth and down his armor. Kain's mouth was drenched in blood, he looked over at Archer, Archer fled to the portal gate and transported himself over to his castle.

Leader screamed and started to run but Kain caught up to him, ripped open his neck, and had another feast of blood. Archer prayed and prayed, but they wouldn't come, Shenerite helped out, the came in ten minutes. They healed each other and went back to the castle, Kain had went downstairs, when we got down there he was holding a soldier, stuck his hand into his chest, and ripped out his heart, and ripped his head off. Brick went for him first, Kain looked up and went invisible, we looked around for him, when Archers head was ripped from his body, we swung where he stood.

The soldiers were dropping left and right, gashes deep in their necks, one tried to run but fell over with a sword in his back. Leader was punched into the wall; his crushed heart caused his death. Kain became visible again, a soldier came up behind him and stabbed him in the back, Kain turned around and smiled at him, the soldier went pale and ran, Kain shook his hand, the soldier picked up a sword and cut off his comrades heads, ran into the middle of a thick battle, only to be slaughtered by his own men. Kain turned back to the samurai, waved his hand again and Archer shot a lightning bolt into his head, his head exploded, his blood soaked the walls around him. Kain took out his new sword, and began the melee battle of a lifetime.

First Brick came up, Kain waited for Bricks attack, their swords pierced our ears, Brick blocked a stab by Kain, and went to chop his stomach when Kain pounced on him and ripped open his chest. Swordsman and Berserker came in at the same time next; Kain was beyond the rank of grandmaster of the Nitou technique. Swordsman went for his legs at the same time as Berserker, Kain jumped over them and jammed his claws into their backs. Leader sliced off his arm, but watched in horror as his arm grew back, Kain jabbed his sword into Leaders head. The battle was the most intense thing anyone in the room could have imagined. Wizard and Archer went in, Kain threw a metal shaft into the ceiling, and Wizard on to it. Archer turned Kain around and began to summon a blasting wind from his hand and shot Kain in his chest. It sent him into the wall opposite of them, he landed onto a spike.

His skin began to burn away, and revealed a natural cage formed around his heart, blocking any stab attacks. Archer began to regenerate everybody, when he was done, Wizard's body began to convulse, and this time, a stream of liquid fire sprayed from his mouth. We went to the next room to help the soldiers, the Death Squads were stronger, torturing the residents of the castle. We helped the soldiers fight; the Death Squads killed Brick and Leader. Swordsman cut one in half, but was stabbed in the back by a trained ninja.

Wizard had an intense swordfight with one of the Death Squad leaders. Leader killed three with an Incinerate; their bodies flew as the smell of burning flesh filled the air, the fire cutting through the body and burning straight to the soul.


	6. A New Threat

The remaining soldiers thanked us, and we exited the castle not too happy of the idea they weren't the ones to annihilate Leyasu. We started down the path to the first portal gate, surrounded by Death Commanders, as soon as we came in sight they charged with Masakaris' and Naginatas' and Nagamakis'.

They immediately impaled Leader and inflicted a deep wound in Bricks stomach; blood spurted from his mouth on to the ground. Berserker was able to kill a couple before getting a Yari into his stomach. Wizard decided to cast a Tidal Wave in self-sacrifice; it killed three, but he was soon killed by a commander with a Nagamaki. Archer got an axe into his face, but not before stabbing the commander with an arrow. The last commander walked up to Swordsman and knocked his weapons out of his hands, he was ready to slice open his stomach, when a sword was stuck into his lower back, he looked down and saw Brick, the commander finished off Brick, Swordsman grabbed his weapons and jammed both of them into its head. He healed everybody and captured the portal gate.

We started down the path and ran into another thick battle of Tengu, Kappa, and Shock Troops. The Tengu attacked first, they carried katanas, they were fairly weak, we killed them easily, next it was the Kappa. One bit Swordsman's leg off; the others pounced on him and began their feast. Brick kicked them off but it was too late. Wizard started to fight the shock troops, he blew off ones head with a stone bolt, another got a frost bolt in his stomach, the final one got a lightning bolt in the mouth. We walked a little further and ended up in a nest of Poison Drakes, Swordsman was bitten in the stomach but took a remedy, Brick was pounced by two of them, and they ripped his face apart with their razor sharp teeth.

Berserker killed the two from behind, but was beheaded by another's claw; Leader killed that one by stabbing its heart. Archer saved Leader from another behind him with a well-placed shot through its neck. Leader, Archer, and Wizard healed everybody and began down the road and saw a village filled with Tengu-sized creatures, we peeked in from around the bend, we saw women and their daughters crying. We snuck in through the back; we each went our separate ways, killing the monsters in stealth. But Wizard made the mistake of keyaiing in the middle of the village; the creatures found Wizard and killed him. The samurai approached the creatures as they looked at Wizard lying on the ground; we all attacked at once, the remaining creatures looked at their comrades, then at us.

They made a strange call, and reinforcements came out of the houses. We recoiled in horror as we realized we were outnumbered twenty to one. Swordsman went for the back, Brick went to the side, Berserker went to another side, and Archer and Leader went to the front. Swordsman had an intense swordfight with three of the creatures. The first had learned the Nitou technique, he sliced his arm but soon got a katana in his stomach. The next walked up casually, but fought with sheer strength. Swordsman's sword broke in one hit; he took the weapon from the dead one. Swordsman finally killed it by slicing it in half, but he was tired, so he killed the third one with a comet.

Leader and Archer were working like a dynamic duo; Archer shot them while Leader stabbed them. Brick was punching them into the ground, but they all attacked at once so the monsters soon overwhelmed him. Berserker killed the creatures by throwing them on to lethal objects, after that everyone met in the middle and defeated the remaining creatures, they lost Leader and Archer. They healed the samurai and talked to the prisoners. They escorted the women back to the village; they hugged their husbands and thanked us for saving them.

We started to walk back where we were. It was beginning to get dark, it was inching toward the third day, screams and moans were still being heard, we knew we should have been moving but were dead tired. We went to sleep and woke up hours later; it was bright out, a new scene of carnage developed before our eyes. Samurai were fighting the creatures with strength, by the looks of it; it looked like the samurai were winning! The samurai swarmed the remaining Foot Soldiers and slaughtered them.

We approached them, "What castle are you from?" asked Leader, "We are from Castle Oda. We are on our way back to the castle, we can't find any portal gates." Their Leader answered. "Well I have bad news, Oda is dead, along with Henchai and Tunkulai." "What? No, it can't be, they're too powerful!" "Clan Tokugawa destroyed him. We have already avenged them." "Damn them, DAMN THEM!" "We share your mourning but we must keep going, Mori is the only one left, we cannot fail him. You guys must only fight weaklings; we cannot heal or regenerate you. We are on our way to the mountain fortress." We began on our way to the mountain. It still shined with the misty morning dew; the fortress was dark and filled with screams. The forest was very empty of its normal vicious creatures, that is until we reached the bridge over the river to the mountainside.

A Poison Drake pounced on Brick and ripped his face apart, Berserker sliced the creatures back, it looked at him and lunged but was stopped abruptly by Wizard who jabbed a little knife into it's chest. It looked at him with a terrible anger in its eyes, Wizard went pale. It walked slowly towards him, but fell dead at his feet. Leader was fighting three Tengu; he was killed by a Lord Kappa that came up behind him and punched him into the ground, blood spurted the Tengu, they cried a war cry and scattered. Wizard let loose all his dragons and lied next to a tree, Archer died right next to Wizard's weak self, and the five samurai from Oda's group hid in the bushes. Berserker was killing little Kappa and went on to the Tengu, he killed them with a powerful Tidal Wave, but the Lord killed him. Swordsman killed the Kappa from behind but was pinned down by the final creature, a silent assassin.

She raised her sword and was ready to stab - when an arrow went straight into her throat, and fell down dead at his feet. He looked at Wizard, holding Archer's bow, Wizard winked, and his body went limp.

He began to pray, the five samurai approached. "THAT IS THE KIND OF BATTLE YOUR SUPPOSED TO FIGHT IN, YOU SAW US GETTING SLAUGHTERED AND YOU GUYS JUST SAT ON YOUR LAZY ASS', AND WE BARELY SURVIVED THAT BATTLE, NOW I SUGGEST YOU PULL YOUR WEIGHT OR YOU'RE GOING TO FIND YOUR HEADS IMPALED ON A STICK!" Swordsman yelled.


	7. Absence of Contrition

The Mori samurai walked out on to the mountain and the Oda samurai trailed behind in grief. The mountain was packed with dark warriors. The trails lined with Death Winds and Arrow Masters. The open fields were infested with Poison Drakes and Mountain Oni.

We approached the base of the mountain, a storm swirled at the top of the mountain; we began the devastating walk. The first trail alone was enough to keep us busy for a while. The Oni attacked first, swinging their razor sharp claws, they sliced Archer up instantly. Leader was blocking the swipes but his sword broke and he was killed while running away. The Oda Samurai began fighting the Archers and Death Winds. They were conquering the little guys while everyone else was focusing on the Oni. Brick was fighting off a drake when a Black Oni came behind him and knocked off Brick's head off with a Tetsu-Bo; the head rolled under Berserker and Berserker tripped, a single Tengu jammed it's sword into Berserker's chest. Wizard summoned a firestorm and disintegrated everything but two Black Oni. The Oda samurai began shooting Earth Strikes and Fire Kanji's.

The Oni remains flew onto the remaining samurai. The Oda Leader was fatally wounded, lying on the ground. "Master, are you okay?" "I will not make it, but the castle is safe, that's all that matters. Bring your comrades up the mountain, I'll see you on the other side…" His last words burned through him, "I will not make it" He regenerated the samurai and commended the dead Oda samurai. We headed up the mountain, the regular trail battles commenced, and we reached a cavern.

We went in, four Cave Oni with Tetsu Bo attacked, the Oda clan waited outside. Wizard and Leader were both killed at the same time; their heads were smashed into their bodies. Swordsman cut off one's leg, it fell over and hit another's foot, it went ballistic and killed it and another. The final one was killed by Brick, who with all his might, knocked his head right off with a Tetsu-Bo. We continued through the cavern entering short battles here and there but the only ones we lost someone at were where Oni were there. Brick was getting used to the Tetsu-Bo, killing enemies left and right, smashing their heads into their bodies. We reached the center of the cave; an evil ritual was taking place.

The samurai all attacked at once but even direct hits weren't affecting him. "MOVE!" said the new Leader of the Oda clan. They gathered in a circle and began muttering words, they opened their mouths and fire busted out, striking it right in the chest, it blew up, only problem was Brick didn't get out of the way in time, he blew up too. Berserker screamed, he took his Tetsu-Bo. "With this, I will fight with honor."

The Oda clan began to shake violently. Their faces changed into demon faces, they began to attack, Berserker killed his attacker first. The battles were intense, except for Wizard's, he just released his dragons. The dragons slashed and bit at the faces of the shoguns, two of the dragons were lost against one shogun alone.

The last one killed the other two. Berserker and Swordsman attacked at the same time, Berserker went for the waist while Swordsman for the head. Memories from the past few days passed through the samurais heads, battles and conversations, Mori is dead, Oda is dead, and a long time ally betrayed them. And Brick, Berserkers best friend is destroyed, Ninja and the episode with Kain. How Berserker himself was almost lost. They returned down the dark cavern trail, the torch light flickering on the cavern walls and ceiling.

Foot soldiers ran down the hall, right at us. Wizard summoned a Lava Wave, but they didn't die. Berserker started swinging the Tetsu-Bo, but it was too heavy, he couldn't get enough power. He pulled out a sword and started slicing off body parts. Blood drenched his face, but the creatures weren't dying, Wizard started pointing at the monsters and summoned huge explosions, it worked. They all backed up behind Wizard, who was blowing all of them up. The blood soaked the walls and floor.

Commanders were running down the hall, Wizard began firing at them but they dodged it and sliced off Wizard's head. Berserker gave the Tetsu-Bo one last try, his power rocketed and he was killing commanders left and right, Archer was shooting arrows into their heads while Leader and Swordsman hung back. Berserker finished off the last two while Archer loaded up on arrows. They could see the light of the end of the tunnel ahead, but it was soon flooded by Arrow Masters and Death Winds. Constantly shooting arrows and fire blades, Archer picked off four Death Winds with precision aiming. The rest killed Swordsman and Leader. Wizard shot blades of his own at random.

The battle was won, and they exited the cavern with excitement, because right in front of them was the front gate to the mountain fortress, of the Dark Warlord. We took a deep breath, and entered. The place smelled of evil, the first room was filled with shadow soldiers and commanders, we reached the main part of the army of the undead. They were as easy as before, Archer killed two with a single arrow. Berserker was getting used to the Tetsu-Bo, he made a massive swing and killed seven of the soldiers. Soldiers were coming in left and right, along with Neanderskulls. Swordsman was gaining back his grace, kill by kill. Leader was killing soldiers and any commander that got in his way.

Berserker hit a Neanderskull in the chest with the massive club, the bones broke instantly, the upper body crushed its legs. The room was emptying quickly, but we lost Leader, he was overwhelmed by the mass of commanders hacking away at his body. Berserker ended that party with a single swipe with the Tetsu-Bo. Swordsman killed a commander with his bare hands, punched his face into his head. Archer shot a commander in the head as he lunged for Swordsman's back. Wizard cast an Avalanche at a Neanderskull and froze him, he just shoved him over and watched him shatter.

A line of shadow soldiers rushed at him, he shot another Avalanche right at them, and watched as the blue wave turned red, the body parts flew all over the room. Berserker stuck the spikes into a commander's head, and threw him across the room, a portal gate lay there. The battle ended, and the portal gate was captured. Wizard's body began to convulse again, he opened his mouth and out came a stream of water, soaking the samurai. But just then, a very old man holding a sake cup stumbled into the room, he dipped the cup to his lips and swallowed. He screamed a terrifying scream, and to the samurais' horror, his skin ripped off and revealed the form of Kain.


	8. A Dragon and A Vampire

Leader let out a squeal, but Berserker spoke up, "You have come back, but this time, we are prepared!" Berserker began swinging at Kain but Kain just jumped over him, Berserker turned around and swung again, Kain ducked and stuck his hand deep into Berserker's chest.

Swordsman fired a fire strike, it hit dead on but he was barely affected by it. Kain ran toward him with his claws out front, and rammed them into his head going all the way through. Archer threw a shuriken at him but Kain deflected it right back through Archer's head. Wizard through a Blast wave right at him but Kain just walked through it, Leader, using his karate skills, began fighting him and Kain fought back, only problem was with a sword. Wizard ran to the portal gate and transported himself and the others back to the shrine room. They revived and went back, but Kain was gone.

All of a sudden Wizards head flew off, then Leaders, then Archers. Swordsman and Berserker kept swinging until Kain appeared again. Berserker used his hands to fight and so did Kain, Berserker began punching him as hard as he could and he could knock Kain back, just not very far, his punches were very powerful that Kain was actually being beaten. But Kain retaliated, and with one punch, sent Berserker across the room. He started laughing as Swordsman ran towards him and began swinging his sword as fast as he could, but Kain used his arm to block most of the attacks.

Kain uppercut Swordsman's head off and began to run towards Berserker, when he reached him Berserker kicked with all his might, and sent Kain flying across the room and into a pool of water. Kain let out a piercing scream, as his body began to smoke and his skin dried to his skeleton. Archer regenerated everybody and moved to the second room. This room was Tsunayoshi' warriors barracks. Dead Foot Soldiers were reminiscing next to the bloody beds; they looked over at the samurai and screeched.

They ran up in groups, slinging their swords with much skill, Berserker swung the Tetsu Bo, knocking four soldiers down with each powerful swing. Leader was ganged up on, the creatures got up, blood drenching their mouths more than regular. Leader's stomach was ripped wide open, he was still convulsing. The creatures kept coming, spilling into the room from every side. The creature's bit at Swordsman's arm, his blood spilled onto the floor, the creatures jumped on him but were quickly ripped away by Berserker and Archer. Wizard was summoning spells at each creature, leaving shattered remains of rotting skeletons. The creatures were beginning to lessen, but Leader was still convulsing, blood dripping out of his mouth every once in a while.

Wizard healed Swordsman's arm but couldn't help Leader until he had more time. A constant flow of soldiers came out of the front of the room, we charged out of there, arrows plastered the wall in front of us. We exited the room and shut the door, Wizard locked it many times. The room was like a fortress in itself, the ceiling was very high and the walls were very wide. The floor was painted with ash marks and blood, decorated with charred skeletons. We heard a faint snort, and then we noticed it. A beautiful blue dragon was flying around near the ceiling. It looked down and spotted us, it raced down at us with a piercing scream. Archer began firing at it, the arrows bouncing off of the hide, never piercing the skin. Berserker readied his Tetsu Bo, and smashed the dragon in the head.

It shot to the side, and gave Berserker a murderous look, he dropped the Tetsu Bo and backed up a few steps before the dragon charged, he jumped but not in time as his head was ripped violently away from his body. The dragon circled the room and came down for a second kill, Archer dove out of the way just in time before the dragon ripped through his torso. Swordsman swung at one of the dragon's claws, the sword broke from the handle. He pulled an extra sword from his side and prepared for it's next go around. Wizard fired a thunder dart at the dragon; blood began to spill out of its side. A large pillar shaped into a samurai, the sword gleamed of magnificent marble, the dragon began to spit fire at the samurai, the statue shone with a bright red and orange. The wound on the dragon began to close, Wizard fired another one at its vulnerable side.

The dragon dodged it and furiously charged at Wizard, Wizard jumped to the side and shot another one. Archer was blind-sided when Wizard jumped; Archer lay dead on the floor. Swordsman pulled out a throwing knife and whipped it at the dragon; it bounced off its hide. Swordsman began summoning spells and throwing them at it, the dragon began to weaken; it fell dazedly to the floor as silver blood slithered from under the body. Swordsman began to comfort the paranoid Wizard. Wizard was looking around desperately, and then his eyes fixed behind Swordsman, Wizards eyes grew wide with terror.

The dragon was standing behind him, it looked like it was smiling. It lunged forward and bit Swordsman in half. Wizard yelled in horror, the dragon licked it's lips and looked at Wizard. Wizard gave him an evil look and began to run towards the statue, the dragon cocked its head back and snorted, it raced towards Wizard. Wizard summoned a gigantic explosion, the base of the sword began to wobble, and the sword fell forward and pinned the dragon to ground. The dragon whimpered in pain, the sword laying deep into the hide of the dragon.

Wizard grunted and started toward Berserker and Archer and regenerated them, but then began to convulse again, he opened his mouth, and out came a stream of molten rock and ash. What can all this mean?


	9. The Dark Temple

They went into the next room, it was a temple. The priest was dead, used as a sacrifice in the desperate (and ill-fated) attempt to save Tsunayoshi's life. Archers were in the corners, waiting for their time to strike. When the time came, the results were deadly; Archer and Berserker were expertly taken out with precise arrow shots. Wizard looked over, he noticed the bodies and stood vigilantly. Arrows flew from each corner; Wizard began swinging his sword at the high-speed arrows, dicing them up.

The archers ran in with swords and throwing knives. Wizard began to kill them but they seemed to spill from the walls like an endless river of rotting death. The knives began to come, the archers not seeming to care who they hit. Wizard was getting extremely fatigued; he fired a powerful incineration wave. The archers were killed instantly, bodies littered the temple. Wizard rushed desperately to the bodies of Archer and Berserker, and began to pray. As they got up, a second wave of soldiers rushed in. The arrows began to fly again; Archer began throwing kunai at the creatures. Berserker began smashing groups with the Tetsu Bo.

The creatures were multiplying with every kill. Wizard sent out the dragons, they slaughtered the creatures. The next few rooms were like the other rooms. Then they reached the armory, where armored monsters raged about. The samurai ran in vigilantly and began to fight off the heavily armored monsters. The swords sometimes couldn't cut through the creatures' armor. Berserker put away the Tetsu-Bo and picked a whip up from the ground. He flicked the whip at a monsters head; the iron spikes went right through the plated masks. He rung it around another one's head and pulled, the head came soaring off onto the ground. Archer began to throw kunai at their open necks and waists.

Wizard's dragons were summoned again after entering the room. The dragons were bigger and tougher than before, only one was lost. Scorched bodies of the demonic bodies lay scattered about the room. The samurai healed each other and reinforced themselves with weapons and armor from the lockers. The whip in Berserker's hands tattered at the head, rendering it useless. Archer grabbed a medium sack of kunai and put it on his hip. Berserker grabbed four whips and put them behind his back in a whip quill. They donned their new armor and prepared to venture further into the castle to reach the shrine, where they suspect Zanshin to be hiding. But prepared they must be, as three more floors separated them from the shrine room at the top of the castle.

The three remaining samurai walked out and into a room with a stairwell at the other end. A flood of soldiers ran down the stairs in one small wave. The samurai ran through the flock swinging and slashing their way through, Wizard broke his sword into a soldiers chest, but made it out narrowly, very narrowly. They regrouped at the top of the stairs, soldiers crawling up the stairs. Another group waited behind them in the room they just entered. Berserker volunteered to hold them off, running in, taking out four with every swing of his mighty Tetsu Bo. Archer whipped Kunai down the stairs and expertly taking out the soldiers at the bottom of the steps.

Wizard slashed the necks of the soldiers at the top of the steps. Berserker finally lost his grip on the situation and was jumped, beaten, and stabbed. Archer and Wizard turned around and began to pull the soldiers off Berserker's slaughtered body, and finished them off with stabbing thrusts that nailed them to the floor. The next room was like...something that could not be compared to anything. Pointed spikes lined the floors and walls, and even ceiling. The bag of Kunai was empty, and Wizard broke his sword in the floor. One by one, Commanders walked into the room, empty handed, and ready to fight. They began to strike and block, their hands moving as quick as lightning, bruises already forming on Wizard's arm.

Wizard ended the brief fight with the Commander by upper-cutting him into the spikes on the ceiling, blood spilling onto the floor from above. Two more walked out and attacked Wizard and Archer, Archer dodged a punch from the soldier, grabbed his arm and wrenched it at an unnatural angle. The bone ripped through the skin, Archer picked him up and through him down onto the spikes. Wizard was fighting a Commander that was very experienced, the Commander caught Wizard in the stomach, and through him over his shoulder, but Archer stopped him just in time. The Commander whipped around and hit Archer in the neck, his windpipe pinched under the severe pressure.

Gasping for air, Archer struggled to keep the Commander from pushing him into the spikes, when the Commander feels a tap on his shoulder. He turns around and sees Wizard, standing there, his forehead smeared with blood. Wizard mutters something, and does a double-handed strike to the Commanders stomach, a bright flash of blue-white light emitted from Wizards hands, the Commander was sent flying through the air and onto the wall of spikes.

Then, the biggest Commander the samurai had ever encountered walked into the room, a sword made of pure diamond with gold plated pearl encrusted handle. He swung with very slight force, but took out all the spikes above him, they came raining down on the Commanders comrades; all falling down dead. Archer finally got his windpipe half way opened back up but still couldn't speak and stood to his feet, but he was too late.

Wizard stood, unaware of what had happened, stood there. The Commander walked up behind him and swung his diamond sword at Wizards head. Wizard gave Archer a blank stare, appearing unharmed, then, as Archer looked at him, a thick red line slowly crept around Wizards neck.

Wizards head slid off the base of his neck, hitting the floor, landing on a spike. Archer ran at the Commander, the Commander swung his sword at Archer, Archer ducked out of the way and jumped to the side. The Commander drove his sword into the ground next to Archer's head. Archer got up and tried to punch him in the stomach, and broke four of his fingers.

Then the Commander looked Archer straight in the eyes, and said, "Say your prayers!" Archer took three quick deep breaths, and just as the Commander swung down, Archer got up and dove between his legs. He stood up quickly, the Commander turned around and growled. Archer jumped up and grabbed a spike from the ceiling, and on his way down, pointed it above the Commanders helmet, at a point where his skin was showing. The spike gave and Archer plummeted down and plunged the spike deep through the monsters head, and down through his crotch. He regenerated Wizard and Berserker, and retrieved thirty Kunai from the heads and torsos of the bodies.

The samurai walked through the next and last door before the shrine, and into a long stretch of hallway. Archer walked through a small, almost unnoticeable stream of light, and three spears shot out of the wall and forced their way into Archer's body. One launched through his hip, the second slipped through his rib cage like butter, and the third hammered through his skull, impaling his brain. Wizard grabbed the bag of Kunai from Archer's shoulder, Berserker and Wizard ran in terror, hitting motion sensors all the way down the hall, opening slits in the walls and releasing swinging and bloodily rusted axes. Then the floorboards on the side they entered through opened up, and revealed a most terrifying sight.

Bones of hundreds of skeletons of small children launched from an acidic pool, boiling under pressure. The next room was humongous, it was fit for a God even. Ancient paintings lined the walls, works of art painted directly on the ceiling portrayed pictures of Zanshin when he used to rule all of Japan. That mighty reaper in his hands, drenched with the blood of citizens of Yamato. Bodies of possessed civilians spread around in a circle around Zanshin, the Dark Warlord.

A banister up in the air, connected to a long winding staircase, led on a walkway around the high part of the room, allowing easy access to the paintings. Then, on the far side of the wall, was the throne. Completely lined with pure gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and Quartz. On the throne, sat the most hideous creature.

His legs were like pure metal, bone spikes sticking out of his ankles. In place of his stomach, was a bright glowing spherethe sphere of powershining brightly, refracting on his armor. On his chest, was a picture of two dragons fighting, his helmet shaped like a demonic skull. His knuckles each portrayed five inch long daggers, and his elbows and two foot long katana like blades sticking out.


	10. Mortal Showdown

The Dark Warlord stood, and spoke in a surprisingly normal voice, "Ah, you have arrived. I've been waiting for you...oh, I see that um, one, two, that five of you guys are missing." Berserker's face grew hot with anger, his hands clenched into tight fists. "Well now that you have finally arrived, why don't we start the show. First...the magic show."

Three Majins jumped from behind the pillar and began firing spells at incredible speed. Wizard countered with a Lava Wave, fire pierced through the ground and set the paintings ablaze, but the majins easily put it out with a freeze spell. The floor shined with ice, but was quickly melted away as a barrage of spells fired both ways. Berserker finally stood long enough to launch his Tetsu Bo through the air at the Majin's. The shaft hit one in the face, the spikes ripping through the Majin's cheek instantly killing him, the handle caught the other in the arms. His arms flailed to the side and aimed at the other Majin, and he fired an Ice Bolt at his own comrade. He froze instantly, Wizard summoned a white hot bolt of lightning and struck the Majin with it, he shattered into thousands of pieces.

The others hands were broken, rendering them useless for spell casting, Berserker used a power up spell on himself and pulled two whips from behind his back, and flicked them on each side of the Majin's head. Chunks of flesh tattered away from it's neck, and a second strike from both whips to the front of his neck sent his body falling to the floor, blood pooling out from under him. The Dark Warlord began clapping, "Ah, very well very well, I see you guys are excellent spell casters, and that you, Berserker, are very talented with those whips you have there. But to move along to the second show...Precision Shooting."

Suddenly, Arrow Masters poked their ugly heads out and began firing arrows at the two samurai. Thinking quickly, Wizard pulled out the bag of Kunai and started throwing them at the arrows, meanwhile, Berserker fired spells off at the snipers. An arrow sped toward Wizard's head, Wizard threw a Kunai at the arrow, wood splintering in every direction. Berserker fired a Stone Bolt at a sniper, the pieces of bone flying in every direction. He launched a Fire Torpedo in rapid fire, causing explosions along the banisters on the upper level taking out two snipers at a time. One final arrow was shot directly at Berserkers nose, Wizard threw him a Kunai. Berserker caught it and whipped it with all of his might at the arrow, the force behind the little knife, shattered the arrow and continued to pulverize the face of the skeleton. Zanshin stood with a surprised look on his face. "Oh my god, I think I may have underestimated you guys! I think it's time for one more challenge. Oh and umm...pancakes, anybody?"

The two samurai looked at each other with confused looks on their faces. Then, the floor began to rumble, then the doors behind them exploded in a cloud of splinters, and in the dust, were the shadowy forms of...Neanderskulls! They rushed out through the door, swinging wildly at the samurai, their bloody hammers smashing the floor to bits. Wizard started a Firestorm where the Neanderskulls stood, they just laughed. Berserker and Wizard launched Earth Kanji's, Fire Kanji's, and Ice Kanji's at the Neanderskulls, killing very few of them. The monsters stalked their way towards the samurai, pounding their hands against the handles of the hammers. Wizard began throwing Kunai at the skeletons, ripping their way through the joints and bones. Berserker smashed them to pieces with his bare hands, narrowly avoiding the fatal swings of the hammers.

Wizard emitted fire from his hands like a fountain, spraying the monsters with liquid fire. The hammer caught Berserker in the chest, there were two monsters left. Wizard jumped out of the way as one of them swung its hammer down with all its might, the hammer smashed through the floor, sending the Neanderskull down to the lower level, exploding into many pieces. The last one looked at Wizard, and knocked the sword out of his hand. He shoved Wizard down into the floor, and readied the hammer above his head. Berserker laid weakly behind the Neanderskull, pulled out his whip, and flicked it around the skeletons monstrous leg. He pulled with all his might, the leg ripped out from under the monsters body, falling back on Berserker, the hammer following, destroying the skeleton and crushing Berserker. Wizard's lip began to tremble, and a tear poked out of his eye.

He stood and looked back at Zanshin. Zanshin stood with a smile on his covered face, Wizard rushed at him. But Zanshin stopped him and picked him up with magic, he held him in the middle of the air. "You know, I never thought anybody would make it as far as you did. Too bad your alone, I was certainly looking forward to a challenge, but all the others were killed. I guess I'll just kill you quickly, since the guilt is bad enough punishment for you thinking you could beat me." Then, Wizard's body began to convulse again. He opened his mouth and out shot a crooked lightning bolt, slashing wildly about the shrine room. Zanshin cocked his head in confusion as Wizard's body began to shine, the light forming four big pieces around his body.

He began to split into the four pieces, the first piece laid on the ground. The piece began to shape itself to a crouching man, then, he stoodit was O-Kuni-Nushi, the God of Earth! Another piece turned to liquid on the ground, and piled itself into the form of Susano-oo-no-mikoto, the God of Water. The third piece began to flare, the flames crept up into the form of Amaterasu-oo-mikami, the Goddess of the Sun.

The fourth and last piece, shone with brightness more blinding than the sun itself, began to form the God of Lightning, Raiden. The four gods stood in a line in front of Zanshin. "Well, I guess I do have a challenge after all!" Said Zanshin. "Your reign of violence and terror ends here, Zanshin!" "And who's going to stop me, you guys? You guys may be gods, but so am I."


	11. War of the Gods

Zanshin jumped through the air and fired waves of death at the four gods, whom easily deflected the spells toward the other monsters about the room. Raiden fired a lightning bolt where Zanshin stood, Zanshin help his scythe in front of him and formed a deflective barrier.

The four gods spread about the room, crawling up the walls and leaving trails of water and fire. The Earth God ran across the room on a bridge of land being created as he ran. Zanshin began rapid firing spells in all directions, but the Gods were never scratched. Raiden ran behind Zanshin and fired a bolt directly into his head, Zanshin looked at him and laughed. He stood still as the Gods fired spells directly at him but he was never hurt. He jumped behind Raiden and shoved the Scythe down and through his back, Raiden healed almost instantly, and ran a surge of electricity through his body, and conducted by the scythe; Zanshin dropped it. Zanshin jumped down from the upper balcony and landed on the ground below.

He looked up as Raiden made a light bridge down to the floor, sparking with every step. The Goddess of the Sun fired a long stream of fire at Zanshin, but Zanshin put it out with a stream of water from his hands. The God of Earth fired a large boulder at Zanshin, Zanshin smashed through the wall and into the room of spikes.

He pulled the spikes from the walls and threw them at the Gods as quick as Archer was able to throw knives. Raiden shot them one by one, while the Goddess of the Sun shot the needles with bolts of fire, disintegrating most of them.

The God of Earth formed a rock wall in front of himself, but the God of Sea and Storms, couldn't do anything, he was nailed to the wall mercilessly, his body healing itself, his skin forming around the spikes, making them part of his body, he couldn't break away from the wall. Zanshin grabbed more spikes from the wall, but Raiden blasted him, making him drop the spikes. Zanshin quickly retaliated and jumped through the air, with a back leg strike, a spike portrayed from his ankle found its way through Raiden's head.

The Fire Goddess grabbed a metal shaft from the ground, and heated it up, she threw it directly at Zanshin's chest. It bounced pitifully off of his armor, and he began to laugh. Raiden pulled the spike from his forehead and whipped it back at Zanshin, Zanshin dodged it and it went into the God of Sea and Storms' chest.

The Earth God pulled the spikes from the GOSS chest. Zanshin ran into the little hallway where Archer was killed, and ran across the spears sticking from the wall, and into the room where Kain came back from the Monk. Kain's bones sat in the water in the fountain, the monks skin lay in a pile on the floor. The four Gods burst in through the doorway, firing elemental bolts through the air at Zanshin. Zanshin began running around the room, then threw his scythe through the air at the Gods, it boomeranged back to him, and he summoned many spells from the tip of the blade.

The Goddess of Sun ran at him with flaming fists, punching and striking through the air, streaks of fire where her hands flew by, Zanshin's armor was scorched where the Goddess' hands made contact. Zanshin pressed his hands to his chest, she had burned straight through his armor. Zanshin gasped for air, and finally took deep breaths. The other Gods made their moves, firing spells at Zanshin, who was to weak to dodge the attacks.

He began to back up, Raiden ran up and grabbed his neck, and surged electricity into Zanshin's body. Then, the God of Earth pulled a spear from the wall in the hall, and charged Zanshin, stabbing him in the chest, his armor shattering on the floor. Zanshin grabbed him, and shoved him across the room, then pulled the spear out. Raiden charged a bolt of lightning but Zanshin punched him in the face before he finished. GOSS summoned the water from the fountain and blasted it in the direction of Zanshin. Then the Goddess of Sun ran at Zanshin, and burst into flames.

She looked like a speeding fireball, she got closer to Zanshin and slowed down. Zanshin pulled out his scythe and held it horizontally in front of him. She dove through the air directly under the scythe, and wrapped her arms around where his stomach was supposed to be, but instead, she grabbed the Sphere of Power. Zanshin fell to his knees, holding the case that used to hold the Sphere of Power, his spine now exposed.

Raiden grabbed the scythe and picked Zanshin up with it, straightened him up, then roundhouse kicked his spine, breaking in half instantly. Zanshin's upper half smashed into the wall, his lower half stood for a moment, fell to the knees, then onto the ground.

The four gods gathered around in a circle, and began muttering ancient words. A blue swirling mist formed between them, and began flowing through the room, the door, then the rest of the castle. The mist instantly revived any body, re-animating dismembered limbs; more than half of Yamato's citizens stood, and rejoiced. The four gods continued to emit the blue mist, then walked to the base of the mountain. Raiden turned into a blue-white ball of lightning, Susano-oo-no-mikoto turned into a puddle of water, O-Kuni-Nushi turned into a flow of molten lava, and Amaterasu-oo-mikami turned into a flame.

The four elements joined together and made the form of a man, Wizard. Wizard now had the power of the four gods, and the only real survivor of the most recent reign of horrific slaughter by Zanshin.

Wizard lived on, rebuilt the city, and moved into the castle at the top of Shourinzan. Peace, not known by this generation, had finally arrived in the empire, of Yamato.

The End


End file.
